ALIEN ALIAS

CASE of CHANELLE PICKETT

William C. Palmer was acquitted of murder in the November 1995 death of Roman "Chanelle" Pickett, a MTF (male to female) who died in Palmer's apartment after the two met in a gay bar.

The verdict outraged advocates for gay and transsexual rights as Palmer's defense lawyers argued that he did not know Pickett was a transsexual when the two met at the Playland Cafe near the Combat Zone.

Reading by Kendall Thomas, Columbia Law School.

PALMER: and I said, "Well this isn't happening" and I said, "I'm going to get you out of here." ......

POLICE: OK. Was there any...at that time you thought she was a woman. Was she coming on to you sexually in the car?

PALMER: I was just kind of like sitting on the side of the bed. She was the same and that's pretty much around the time she started flipping out. Oh, and then I discovered that it was a penis.

Q: Now you and your twin became transsexual, or determined that it was your intent to become female?

A: Well it's always been our intent. However, the hormone therapy began at age twenty. I'm currently twenty-three.

Q: When you say hormone therapy, can you describe what that entails?

A: Premarin, Estrogen, and hormone shots; which is, you know, just by shot.

Q: The purpose of this treatment is what; what is the effect?

A: Just to get the balance -- or, excuse me, not equal the balance, to create more female hormones than male hormones. However, when I was eighteen, I was diagnosed -- well, I had my blood analysed. They said that I had more female than male, and that I had to take hormones at that point to have more female than male hormones.

POLICE: Now, how did you find that out? I know the obvious reasons, but try to ...you were makin' out or was there a little touchy feely?

PALMER: There was touch feely and I felt that...

the commonwealth has requested permission to introduce extrinsic evidence that the defendant was a reuglar customer of two nightclubs frequented by transexuals and their "admireres, that he paid for and solicited sex from transsexual prostitutes, that he said he like "black queens" and called one black transsexual a "nigger" telling him to "get [her] flat black ass out of [his] truck" this evidence cannot be admitted because its highly inflammatory and prejudicial nature greatly outweighs its probative value.

POLICE: So visually do you see that she was a man?

PALMER: Oh no, because she had the panties on. You couldn't really tell.

POLICE: Was the light on or off?

PALMER: It ws low. it was a halogen light, it was low. She knocked that lighting right in half.

In 94 and 95, the defendant paid to have sex with two transsexals, whom he apparently would have seen were men, and solicited sex form a third, of whom he asked, "do yo have breasts?"

POLICE: You went to the bar

PALMER: I went to the bar...

POLICE: You had a beer?

PALMER: and the next thing i know the voice is deep. He was yelling "the devil is here, the devil is there". The devil will blah, blah, blah, this and just bouncing off walls and knocking things over and the light, jumping on the bed. Just going completely mental. Completely mental.

Q: Now, with respect to the process of becoming a female, are there various stages that one goes through both medically and say through psychological counselling and testing, in order to do this?

A: Yes.

Q: Can you just generally give an overview of that?

A: In order to have the required surgery, one has to live and dress as a woman, basically, maintain themselves professionally, you know, have a career and that kind of thing, and maintain the career for two years.

PALMER: I mean completely beserk. Knocking shelves over, lights, just nutty. Like out of her mind...his mind. Took my finger and put it in her mouth. This was the only time to my knowledge that I struck her..him. Had my finger in the mouth and just bit down on it as hard as...I mean...I thought I was going to lose my finger.

POLICE: Why did you put your finger in...?

PALMER: I didn't.

POLICE: Oh.

PALMER: It was somehow during the scramble or the ramble or something my finger was put in her...

POLICE: So you punched...

PALMER: OK. And....and...and...at that point...

POLICE: ...with your right hand?

PALMER: ..this person was still going nuts.

POLICE: ...your right hand?

PALMER: Yes. With the right hand. My finger was...I had ...it was self-protection.

POLICE: What finger was...

PALMER: This finger.

POLICE: For the record it's your left land ring finger.

PALMER: The ring finger, yes, sir.

Q: So, your present state would be a pre-operative transsexual ---

A: Correct.

Q: ---is that correct?

A: Correct.

PALMER: But I want to stress this, she was completely coherent. This punch didn't even knock her down. Him down. This guy was as strong as an ox.

POLICE: Ummm Hmmm.

PALMER: Didn't knock him down.

POLICE: Did you swing pretty hard?

PALMER: I .... first I'm supposed to get my finger out. It wasn't like... it wasn't like...it wasn't an all the way blow. Do you know what I mean? It was a half way blow. Just like a jab just to see if she'd let go.

POLICE: Do you want a cup of coffee?

PALMER: Yes. I'd love one.

POLICE: Regular?

PALMER: Yes. Thank you.

PALMER: Now after that punch...

POLICE: So, he was biting the left?

PALMER: Yes. The finger was in the mouth at and first I tried to grab the throat so that he would let go and it didn't work. So I punched him. In not ever sure if that worked. It was just mass confusion. But started to say this person was still going haywire after this punch, so that punch didn't do much damage. It couldn't have. It might have phased him or whatever, but he was still going nuts.

POLICE: Sarge, could you send one of the guys out for a small regular and a small cream...OK. Can't ever get anybody to go for coffee. OK. Go ahead.

PALMER: ...It was...he was hysterical and you know, he was just... he blew his hold... He was on the floor and I heard him breathing, because I was thinking to myself this is going to be like that movie Alien and this thing is going to jump up again.

POLICE: Clothes on or off?

PALMER: On. And Oh, at that point, like I said, I was waiting for him to jump up again or whatever, so I was just sitting there and its' like I can't believe this is happening.. I can't believe this's happened. And I could hear him breathing and I went to bed. I woke up this morning, I woke up later on today, and I was straightening some things out. I wanted this person to stay sleeping because I didn't want--- There was quiet. I didn't want the noise.

PALMER: At that point, I lifted, I turned the body over and like I said, the head was there, the shoulder was down, no movement. It was like a horror film.

POLICE: There was no question that it was dead?

It is clear from the evidence regarding the autopsy as well as the scientific evidence that the deceased was a man with male genetalia, who was found wearing women's clothng when the body was discovered. Given this, there will be no confusion that the decased and the witnesses refered to are male transsexuals and not women. Therefore use of female names and pronouns will assist in assuring a clear record of the proceedings.

PALMER: No question at all. I mean, I'm not an expert, but when you have someone's shoulder on the ground like this and the head is sticking straight out like that...

POLICE: Yeah.

PALMER: I mean, I'm a sportsman, a fisherman and stuff and I know when a fish is dead.

based on
document 1: transcript of William Palmer's testimony at the Watertown police department, 11/20/97
document 2: Before Grand Jury of Middlesex county, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 12/13/1997, Adrienne Lynch (prosecuting attorney) direct questioning Gabrielle Pickett
document 3: commomwealth of Massachusettes superior court department